With a single lesbian kiss, Finland has made history by fighting for equal marriage at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden.

Krista Siegfrids, who sang ‘Marry Me’, ended her semi-final performance by kissing one of her female dancers.

It is the first time there has ever been a gay kiss on a Eurovision stage in its 59-year history.

Speaking to Gay Star News in Malmo, she told critics her kiss was about spreading love and not politics. Political gestures or lyrics are strictly forbidden under Eurovision rules.

Assaults on the LGBT community and incidents of homophobic hate speech have both risen sharply in France over the last year.

The number of calls to SOS Homophobie’s helpline were up by 27% on the previous year.

Homophobic hate crime spiked last year in the run-up to the French parliament's approval of a Bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.

Incidents doubled in October and November when compared with the previous year, and tripled in December.

Bristol, UK will be hosting Europe’s biggest gay rugby tournament, the Union Cup 2013 on 23 – 26 May.

This year 550 gay rugby players from teams including Stockholm, Berlin, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Dublin will travel to Bristol to compete, bringing an estimated £25,000 to the city's local economy.

Tournament director David Arid said: ‘The idea of a gay and gay-friendly rugby club is to provide an accepting environment in which players can develop their sporting potential without fear of prejudice.

An Italian teacher working in the North African country of Eritrea has been deported for his sexuality.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) reported that Paolo Mannina was working as a literature professor in an Italian school located in the capital city of Asmara.

Authorities reportedly forced the professor from his job and made him leave the country without offering an official explanation.

Former Florida governor Charlie Crist has announced his support of gay marriage.

The Republican-turned-Democrat took to his Facebook page this week to say he supports marriage equality in the swing vote state.

Crist wrote: ‘Some great news: On Tuesday, Delaware became the 11th state to allow marriage equality. And just a few days ago, Rhode Island adopted a similar measure, which followed victories last fall in Maine, Maryland and Washington.

LGBT rights activists in China are launching a campaign to increase transgender visibility.

An event on Friday 17 May (IDAHO - International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) called lgbT - Increasing Transgender Visibility in China aims to spread awareness about trans issues.

'Chinese society is currently still largely unaware of the plight of transgendered people in China, who face stigma and discrimination on a daily basis,' said a statement from event organizers Queer Comrades,

A poster protesting against equal marriage in France is going viral after being called racist.

It depicts Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira, born in Guiana, as a raging gorilla King Kong figure, overwhelmed by a flood of anti-gay protestors from Manif Pour Tous.

The slogan is a play on words, with ‘manif monstre’ meaning ‘giant demonstration’.

Posted on 6 May, it outraged gay rights activists as well as those who oppose marriage equality.

Two candidates who voted against gay marriage in last year's Upper House vote in Tasmania won their seats in a local election yesterday. The third victor has also said she would vote against a state same-sex marriage bill.

President Barack Obama said he supports a new immigration bill that includes same-sex couples.

The new legislation, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, would allow US citizens to sponsor their foreign same-sex partners for a green card.

Speaking at a press conference in Costa Rica on Friday (3 April), Obama said: 'The LGBT community should be treated like everybody else. That's the essential core principle behind our founding documents. The idea that we're all created equal and we're equal before the law.

Friends of the disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien say he’s been ordered by the Vatican into exile and ditch his plans for retirement in Scotland.

The Herald commented that: ‘It is the clearest indication yet of the Vatican's unwillingness to let the matter drift’ of the Cardinal’s sexual assault on male priests when he run seminaries in the 1980s and during a drinks party in Rome.

A Canadian bridal shop stopped a transgender woman from trying on wedding dresses.

Rohit Singh, from Saskatoon in southern Canada, says she asked to try on a dress in Jenny’s Bridal Boutique and was refused.

The shop owner thought Singh was a man and said other people in the store would be uncomfortable with Singh trying on a dress, CBC News reports.